Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Brazil's Native Americans offended by Ratzinger's comments

may 14th, 2007

what an arrogant, inhuman, imperialist bigot this godman is! but then maybe its not the person, but the institution of godman-ism that is to blame. this statement by the godman in brazil is almost exactly the same as what the previous godman said in india on diwali day a few years ago, that they brought 'light' to india's darkness. in fact it is the exact opposite: they brought spiritual darkness and satanism to a shining, spiritually advanced civilization.

also, we should stop calling these people 'indians', as it is diluting our brand value, along with that 'south asian' crap. they are native americans.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Moksha

Brazil's Indians offended by Pope comments
 
Outraged Indian leaders in Brazil said on Monday they were offended by Pope Benedict 's "arrogant and disrespectful" comments that the Roman Catholic Church had purified them and a revival of their religions would be a backward step.
 
In a speech to Latin American and Caribbean bishops at the end of a visit to Brazil, the Pope said the Church had not imposed itself on the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

They had welcomed the arrival of European priests at the time of the conquest as they were "silently longing" for Christianity, he said.

Millions of tribal Indians are believed to have died as a result of European colonization backed by the Church since Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, through slaughter, disease or enslavement.

Many Indians today struggle for survival, stripped of their traditional ways of life and excluded from society.

"It's arrogant and disrespectful to consider our cultural heritage secondary to theirs," said Jecinaldo Satere Mawe, chief coordinator of the Amazon Indian group Coiab.

Several Indian groups sent a letter to the Pope last week asking for his support in defending their ancestral lands and culture. They said the Indians had suffered a "process of genocide" since the first European colonizers had arrived.

Priests blessed conquistadors as they waged war on the indigenous peoples, although some later defended them and many today are the most vociferous allies of Indians.

"The state used the Church to do the dirty work in colonizing the Indians but they already asked forgiveness for that ... so is the Pope taking back the Church's word?" said Dionito Jose de Souza a leader of the Makuxi tribe in northern Roraima state.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070514/wl_nm/pope_brazil_indians_dc

2 comments:

san said...

Europeans love to take the lead at sneering at the 'neo-cons', whom they see as the crude, brash, less sophisticated lower-castes of the white family.

But we Asians should also be worried not just about the neo-cons, but also about the neo-cols (neo-colonialists) -- ie. the Europeans themselves, who turn a blind eye to Ratzinger's ugly attitudes.

san said...

Off-topic, speaking of opportunistic assaults, Sherry Rehman and Yousuf Raza Gilani of the opposition Pakistan People's Party are on a protest march in Karachi, when Gilani's hands suddenly decide to take advantage and do a little groping.

Pakistan Zinda-my-bad! my bad!